Swimming in Shark Infested Waters

Whitetip Reef Shark SCUBA Diving

I went swimming in shark-infested waters – and lived to tell about it!

This is from Sipadan, in Semporna Archipelago, in Malaysian Borneo. It was an incredible diving experience, and easily my favorite SCUBA dive site yet!

Whitetip Reef Sharks get their name from the tips of their fin – see the dorsal fin in this photo. I was this close in Borneo!

Aren’t sharks dangerous?? This is the most common question I get when people hear my excitement about swimming with sharks. The short answer: No. We’ve all seen the movie Jaws, but not all sharks are the same. The overwhelming majority of sharks are not dangerous (unless provoked). These were reef sharks – people commonly refer to them as “vegetarian” sharks! Whitetip Reef sharks are curious and will swim right up to you, but aren’t often aggressive unless provoked.

Are there dangerous sharks in Borneo? The places where I went were safe when diving safely. Sipadan and the Semporna Archipelago also has a reputation for having Hammer Head Sharks, but the divers I met said they hadn’t seen them in a long time.

Whitetip Reef Sharks like to hang out near the ocean floor and in caves. Their name comes from their fins, both of which are white tipped.

Up close with a white tip reef shark in Borneo

“Wait, you went diving with sharks and weren’t even protected in a cage??”

Do you need a cage to dive with sharks? Nope. I live dangerously. Seriously, with a few precautions, not all sharks are aggressive and a cage isn’t necessary for Borneo and in many other regions of the world, assuming you’re not deliberately doing stupid things (listed below). If you treat them with respect and are smart, they’re not the vicious predators you see in movies like “Jaws.”

“I would do anything … but I won’t do that” –

Are all shark species safe to dive with, without a cage? No! I wouldn’t seek out Bull Sharks or Tiger Sharks, or the Great White, the “most feared predator on earth,” to dive with. There are people that do (including some in the comments below), and SCUBA diving tourism is souring, but it’s all about comfort level and education. I would never want to deliberately confuse a shark as to their food – I wouldn’t dive with a group that deliberately throws dead fish and blood in the water (called “chum” – more on “chumming” from wikipedia here), and I don’t recommend you do either. I wouldn’t go spear fishing, as they’ll try to steal catches. Some say they also hear the sound of a spear gun and respond in seconds. I also wouldn’t recommend that you make physical contact with a shark, tease a shark, or otherwise mess with their environment. All three of these are messing with the shark’s environment, and leads to accidents. Why increase your risk and make it dangerous? Perhaps these things will change over time, but as of now this is where my comfort level is. I was just swimming and photographing in their world, and loving it!

This was my first shark sighting of the day. I’d see many more and much closer.

What do whitetip reef sharks eat? If they don’t eat people…what do whitetip reef sharks eat? Whitetip Sharks hunt at night, and like to eat octopus, crabs, and lobsters, and hang out on the ocean floor near potential meals. They have a blunt snout so when they’re getting into caves, they can still snatch some lunch. They also mix into their diet some bony fish, including eels, squirrelfishes, snappers, surgeonfishes, triggerfish, damselfishes, parrotfishes, and goatfishes.

Whitetip Reef Sharks like to hang out on the ocean floor near potential meals

Even after seeing dozens of reef sharks in the Semporna Archipelago, it was still exciting!

2 thoughts on “Swimming in Shark Infested Waters”

I do disagree however you can safely dive with tiger sharks, great whites and bulls without a cage with caveats it’s all about the conditions you dive in, your knowledge of their behaviour and your ability to stay calm in a possible anxious moment

Also I would recommend very strongly that all black equipment is the way to go

Hi Bill, thanks for kind words! I still think *most* people shouldn’t dive with tiger sharks or bull sharks, until they’re a bit more experienced and skilled. It’s all about your comfort level. Why does black equipment help?